World War II Milwaukee

by Meg Jones

Long before Japanese bombs rained down on Pearl Harbor, Milwaukee was the "Machine Shop to the World." Thanks to the city's large industrial base, factories quickly retooled and mobilized for wartime production. Harley-Davidson produced thousands of military motorbikes, and Falk Corporation churned out gears that turned the propellers on hundreds of ships. Locals sacrificed their lives for the cause--Mayor Carl Zeidler went missing at sea, USS Arizona captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh refused to leave the bridge of his burning battleship and Mildred Harnack joined the Nazi resistance movement and was executed on direct orders from Hitler. Embedded with German and American troops, Milwaukee journalists H.V. Kaltenborn, Louis Lochner and Dickey Chapelle sent dispatches from the front lines. Through past interviews and archival materials, author Meg Jones reveals these and other patriotic stories.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2015

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book giving accounts of several people from Milwaukee that were involved in the war, such as General Billy Mitchell who predicted Pearl Harbor (and who the airport was named after) and Mildred Harnack who was part of the Red Orchestra, a group of Germans giving information to the soviets. Milwaukee was the “Machine Shop to the World” - with such a heavy manufacturing presence here, it was easy to switch whatever factories were doing to war production once American entered WW2. My grandmother, Bernice Strahl, worked at Globe Union in the 40s and told us how she remembered making weird things like mines. Many of the women who worked in companies like Globe Union, Allison-Chalmers and A. O. Smith had no idea the things they were making would end up being in bombs. Harley Davidson made thousands of bikes specifically for WW2, DESCO made diving helmets for water ops, among many other examples. Good book, only things I didn’t like were 1) the captions repeated text in the book, so you often had to re-read a paragraph; and 2) random names being mentioned without being introduced (who’s Brysac?).

[Lisa Schlenker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing historical account of several Milwaukee natives and their influential contributions throughout World War 2. Of particular interest and delight for me were the chapters on Milwaukee's DESCO corp (still in business!), Mildred Fish Harnack, and especially war correspondent Dickey Chapelle. A fast and newsy read, this book inspires me to track down the biography of Dickey Chapelle in particular, though all the individuals showcased in Ms. Jones' descriptive writing came alive on the page through the richly detailed prose. This book will be a treat for anyone with interest in either Milwaukee history or the history of the second world war.

[Mary Wyn]

Despite the title this book is actually about folks with at least a bit of a Milwaukee connection. Very little is written about how the people of Milwaukee lived and adjusted to wartime changes in their lives. I was disappointed.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some well researched and interesting stories about Milwaukee during WWII. I wish there could have been more.